title: The relationship between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and vascular calcification in end-stage renal disease patients.
abstract: Chronic inflammation was found to be correlated with coronary (CAC) and thoracic peri-aortic calcification (TAC) in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was introduced as a potential marker to determine inflammation in cardiac and noncardiac disorders. Data regarding NLR and its association with TAC and CAC are lacking. We aimed to determine the relationship between NLR and vascular calcification in ESRD patients. This was a cross-sectional study involving 56 ESRD patients (22 females, 34 males; mean age, 49.9 ± 14.2 years) receiving peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis for ≥6 months in the Dialysis Unit of Necmettin Erbakan University. TAC and CAC scores were measured by using an electrocardiogram-gated 64-multidetector computed tomography. NLR was calculated as the ratio of the neutrophils and lymphocytes. There was a statistically significant correlation between NLR, TACS and CACS in ESRD patients (r = 0.43, P = 0.001 and r = 0.30, P = 0.02, respectively). The stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that age, as well as NLR were independent predictors of TACS. However, increased age was the only independent predictor of CACS according to linear regression analysis. Simple calculation of NLR can predict vascular calcification in ESRD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Erzincan University Mengucek Gazi Training and Reseach Hospital, Erzincan, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kultigin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Turkmen
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ozcicek
authors.forename: Adalet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozcicek
authors.forename: Emin Murat
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Akbas
authors.forename: Fatih Mehmet
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Erdur
authors.forename: Halil Zeki
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Tonbul
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D061205:Vascular Calcification / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: End-stage renal disease; coronary artery calcification neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; thoracic peri-aortic calcification